The present invention relates to a method for detecting irregularities on bevel gears, and, more particularly, relates to a method of detecting irregularities on either of a matched pair of bevel gears which are meshed together.
In general, bevel gears, such as hypoid gears for differential gear mechanisms of automobiles, are inspected to check for existence of any irregularities, such as scratches or damage, on the surface of their teeth, after the surfaces of these teeth have been finally machined and finished.
A conventional method for performing such checking for the existence of irregularities on bevel gears has been performed by meshing a matched pair of these gears together in a tooth contact testing machine, rotating one of the gears so as to drive the other gear, which is subjected to a certain load so as to maintain a certain desirable loading between the meshed teeth of the gears, and by detecting the presence of any vibration at this time with a vibration detector. However, since conventionally the meshed bevel gears are rotated with their axial lines and their positions along their axial lines remaining constant, the parts of these gears which are actually meshed together remain limited to particular areas of their toothed surfaces.
Therefore, it has not been possible with the above mentioned method to check for irregularities over the entire surfaces of the bevel gear wheel teeth. In other words, it has only been possible, with the above outlined method, to check for the existence of damage or defects in the particular areas of the teeth of the meshed bevel gear wheels which are at the time actually in force transmitting contact with one another.
A further disadvantage of the method above outlined is that it requires that after the wheels have been finally machined they should be mounted to a separate tooth contact testing machine. This requires time, takes trouble, and requires a special additional machine to be provided in the workshop, which is expensive and uses space.